


Conversation on a Swing

by desert_tamar



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-23
Updated: 2012-03-23
Packaged: 2017-11-02 09:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desert_tamar/pseuds/desert_tamar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A missing scene from "Lies My Parents Told Me" when Giles and Dawn share a moment after Buffy rebukes him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversation on a Swing

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ's Summer of Giles 2010

Buffy shut the door and after a pause Giles began to make his way back downstairs. As he did, he noticed Dawn, standing in her doorway. "I suppose you heard that?" he murmured, conscious of not wanting to wake the other members of the crowded household.

"Not really." She looked down awkwardly. "I wasn't trying to."

He pulled his glasses off, and absentmindedly gave them a perfunctory swipe with his handkerchief. "Yes, well, eavesdropping is rarely as productive or successful as one hopes," he said mildly.

She stood there, clutching a tattered book to her chest. One of her diaries, he supposed. He sighed when she didn't immediately go back inside her bedroom. Finally, he replaced the glasses and inquired, in  
what he hoped was a concerned tone, "how is your head?"

"It's okay," she replied. "Just a scratch. Doesn't even hurt."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Not really," she admitted ruefully. "I don't have super strength, remember?" She offered him a small smile.

"Yes. Well, get some rest." With that, he turned away and resumed his journey downstairs. Instead of returning to the bedroom, she followed him. He sighed. He desperately wanted some peace, and possibly some scotch. But neither seemed to be a possibility at the moment so as they reached the foot of the stairs he simply said, "I thought I'd get a bit of fresh air." She nodded, and didn't ask permission, but trailed after him anyway, settling in on the porch swing. After a moment, he joined her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, as the night breeze gently swayed the swing. He wasn't sure what to say- he didn't seem to be very good at talking with Summers women tonight. And he could count on  
his left hand the number of times he'd engaged in any sort of serious conversation with the younger one.

In the darkness, she suddenly spoke. "She came into my room, you know? Like, to tuck me in or something."

"I'm sure she was just checking on you," he said in answer.

"Yeah. Sure. Checking to make sure her pet vampire didn't do any permanent damage." Her tone is bitter. He didn't have a reply to that- not enough energy or desire to play the comforting paternal figure  
tonight. Dawn gave him a sideways glance

"Why's she so angry with you?"

He answered without pausing, "it's somewhat complicated."

She snorted. "It always is. At least you get some emotion though. She doesn't even see me anymore. It's like I'm in the background, unless I get conked on the head."

"She loves you," he observed. That was comfort enough, he hoped.

"I know," she responded, her voice flat, as if it didn't mean much, as if it was just a statement of fact.

For some reason, at that the words come pouring out. "She needs to realize that it's not just about Spike. He's indicative of a larger issue. Buffy says she's ready, but I fear she's woefully underestimating the gravity of the situation. She's not ready....then there's this, yet another distraction. She's blinded by her feelings for him. He's dangerous and no good will come of this relationship of theirs. You'd think she would have learned her lesson with her last vampire, but no, she's foolishly heading straight on into disaster." He paused and took a deep breath. "I fear for her," he stated simply. "For all of us."

He wasn't sure why he was confiding in Dawn of all people. Perhaps because she was simply there, willing to listen, unlike his erstwhile pupil. Former pupil. Dear G-d, he had been so sure it was the right thing to do, so certain. But now...well, it had only served to drive her further away, to turn her even more into this cold and hard woman that was so unlike the bubbly blond girl he remembered from once upon a time. What had he done? When Dawn spoke again, he was momentarily startled- so lost in his thoughts he had forgotten the young girl who sat beside him.

"Buffy thinks she doesn't need any of us," she said softly. "She does, though. She just has to realize it. She will." As she spoke, she stared down at the book clutched tightly in her hands, avoiding his eyes. In that moment he realized how tired he was. Utterly exhausted, really.

Still, he responded, "Yes, well, I suppose she will eventually. Evidently though, not tonight."

Dawn looked up and her gaze rested on him a moment. Silently, she met his eyes and then gave a brief smile. "Anyway, there's a part in this Turkish spell book I'm stuck with." She gestured down at the book that  
she had been holding throughout their conversation, now resting on her lap. "I think I'm messing up on the syntax of an incantation or something."

"Let me see." She handed the book over. "Ah, yes. I see where you might have been confused." As they sat there, swinging slightly, Giles allowed the words of the text to wash over him, gradually clearing the worries of the evening from his mind as he realized that he still had something to offer to someone. Perhaps that was enough.


End file.
